


Newborn God

by EthanTheAnnus



Series: Gods have great hair and demons don’t [3]
Category: The New Legends of Monkey (TV)
Genre: Amnesia, Angst, Canon Compliant, Canonical Character Death, F/M, Feels, First Kiss, Fix-It, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Getting Together, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, I am in Emotional Pain and wrote this in like two hours, I just finished season two and I just had to write, Monkey King Centric, Monkey King POV, Post-Canon, Post-Season/Series 02, Reunions, Season/Series 02, Temporary Amnesia, Tripkey, all the hugs, season two spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-08-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:40:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25767580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EthanTheAnnus/pseuds/EthanTheAnnus
Summary: SEASON TWO SPOILERS!!!Most of all, he’d flown himself into the sun to protect her; Shadow Monkey had wanted Tripitaka dead, and there was only one way to destroy the scroll, so he’d done it.But in that case… how was he back? He frowned as the wind whistled past him, brow crinkling. He’d died. He was sure he’d died; he’d felt the heat of the sun swallow him whole, had felt his flesh burn right off of his bones.And yet he was alive.-OR-The ending we all deserved, instead of the pain train we got.
Relationships: Monkey King & Pigsy (The New Legends of Monkey), Monkey King & Sandy (The New Legends of Monkey), Monkey King & Tripitaka (The New Legends of Monkey), Monkey King/Tripitaka (The New Legends of Monkey)
Series: Gods have great hair and demons don’t [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1170938
Comments: 21
Kudos: 150





	Newborn God

**Author's Note:**

> From watching this season with subtitles I saw that Real Tripitaka's name is Gaxin!!! It sure makes it easier for when I talk about this season with friends, rather that having to say "Guy Tripitaka" and "Girl Tripitaka" all the time.

There was nothing but him, the sky, his cloud, the shadow scroll, and the sun. For any mere mortal, the glowing, fiery ball before him would have long ago burned away their sight. As a god, it meant he was able to stare down what would be his flaming demise, bright and burning and radiating heat so intense it was a wonder his flesh hadn’t started to melt. 

As he drew nearer to the sun, his thoughts turned to those he’d left behind. Sandy and Pigsy, his fellow gods and loyal companions. The “Real” Tripitaka, who he truly regretted prioritising over  _ his  _ Tripitaka, even for a second.

His Tripitaka. The thought of her, the not-monk, the imposter, the one he’d journeyed so far with, made him smile. Then, the fire enveloped Monkey, swallowing him whole.

***

Darkness. Slime. A distinct lack of oxygen.

Monkey scrabbled about desperately, blindly, unable to see, but feeling a strong need to get out. He had to be somewhere, there were things he had to do. His hand struck something solid, but flimsy.

Curling his fingers inwards, making his hand into a fist, Monkey wished so badly that he could take a slow breath in, then out. He stilled, for just a moment, then he struck, swinging his fist upwards with all the force of a newborn god.

The eggshell encasing him burst open, cracking and splintering. Monkey pulled himself from the slime of the eggwhite, gasping in air, his gaze flicking around. The mountainside he’d hatched upon was familiar, as was this valley.

He blinked, the bright, harsh light of the sun bearing down on him. He was acutely aware of the fact that he was naked, but also deemed that unimportant for the time being. He had somewhere to be, he knew it, but where?

He crawled fully from the eggshell and shook as much of the eggwhite off of him as possible. Something in him told him to climb higher up the mountain, and so he did. He was near the peak when instincts told him to dig, and once again, he did. 

Buried there were armour and underclothes, and what looked like a small hairpin. Monkey slipped on the clothing, and the armour. He picked up the hairpin, letting it lay flat on the palm of his hand.

Finally, he decided he would worry about the hairpin later. He had somewhere to be, things he had to do. He knew it, could feel the pull in his gut.

There was something else, too. Power ran through his veins, charging him with an electric current. He knew he could do things, things others couldn’t.

Faces flashed through Monkey’s mind; a wild-haired woman, a large bearded man, and a small monk. He frowned, trying to chase the pictures in his head, reaching for memories that just weren’t there, hidden by inky darkness. 

That was when instincts kicked back in. Without truly knowing what he was doing, Monkey raised his index and middle finger to the sky, tracing a small circle as he whistled, soft and low. Then he twitched his fingers, clicking his tongue twice.

To his astonishment, a cloud descended from the heavens in answer to his call. Then his look of astonishment turned to a grin, and he leapt, higher than any man should be able to, and landed atop the cloud. The fluffy white thing began to move immediately, whisking the newborn god away across the clear, open sky.

***

It had been hours. Monkey had been crouched atop this cloud for hours, soaring through the sky, the wind whipping past him. He had no idea where they were going.

His memories were returning in fragments, far faster than a mortal’s would, but painfully slowly regardless. He’d been on some sort of quest, and demons had taken over the world. He was a god, he was the Monkey King.

The wild-haired woman was named Sandy, and she too was a god. The large bearded man was named Pigsy, but anything about him beyond his name was lost to Monkey. He still didn’t know who the monk was.

He had fleeting memories of scrolls. He could remember flashes of battles, and he could remember defending the monk with his life. The rest of his mind was simply inky blackness, a void where his memories should have been.

Monkey crouched lower on his cloud, bracing himself against the wind. Wherever they were headed clearly wasn’t nearby; he had time to regain his memories.

***

The sun, which had been high in the sky when he hatched, had almost set by the time Monkey regained the last pieces of his memory. He nearly fell off his cloud, bolting upright with a gasp as the final details returned.

The monk wasn’t a monk; she was a girl, a girl who’d stepped up to fill the role of Tripitaka after she’d thought him dead. She was the Tripitaka they’d chosen in the end, since she’d been the one they’d journeyed with, the one they’d grown to trust.

Then Monkey had flown himself into the sun. He’d flown himself into the sun to kill the shadow version of himself. Most of all, he’d flown himself into the sun to protect her; Shadow Monkey had wanted Tripitaka dead, and there was only one way to destroy the scroll, so he’d done it.

But in that case… how was he back? He frowned as the wind whistled past him, brow crinkling. He’d died. He was sure he’d died; he’d felt the heat of the sun swallow him whole, had felt his flesh burn right off of his bones.

And yet he was alive. He was alive and soaring through the sky on his cloud. His cloud, who was bringing him to the Burnt Sands. Gods, Monkey would hug his cloud if he could; the thing knew where to take him before he could even remember where he needed to be.

And there it was, in the distance. The Burnt Sands. Would they all even still be there? Sandy, Pigsy, “Real” Tripitaka, and his monk?

A familiar warmth sparked in his chest when he realised he’d thought of Tripitaka as “his monk”, a fondness that Monkey daren’t put a name to. He crouched lower still on his cloud, urging it onwards.

It was only moments later that it hovered above the Burnt Sands, over the area where the Scroll of Creation had been kept safe for five hundred years. Monkey glanced down, unable to spot anyone down there, friend or foe.

“Thank you,” he whispered to his cloud before leaping from it, realising with a start that he’d never thanked it before in his life. He landed with a soft thud on the sandy ground, and he lifted his head, gaze settling on the lone tree before him.

It was with an uneasy feeling that Monkey realised this was the last place he’d been before he’d died. At least six hours had passed since then; Tripitaka and the others had clearly left, and, if he remembered right, the forests that gave way to the Burnt Sands were only a four-hour walk from here.

He sighed heavily. Monkey knew better than to hope his cloud would come back and give him a lift; it was a fickle thing, and it had done more than enough for him today. Pulling out the hairpin that he’d remembered hours ago was a staff, he took a breath in.

He channelled his power, extending it into its staff form, and held it defensively at his side. This walk was going to be a long one, and as long as he was out in the open, he was inviting attack from demons. Taking another breath, he took the first of many steps towards finding his friends again.

***

It was well after nightfall when Monkey found the small town in the woods. It was his best bet at finding the others since there were no other villages for a long while, and he doubted that his friends would have gone further than this. 

Thankfully, some of the villagers were yet to sleep, so Monkey didn’t have to choose between creeping around or waking up a poor mortal. The man he ended up talking to was a hunter, or so Monkey guessed by the bow and arrows slung over the man’s back.

“Did some strangers arrive here late today?” Monkey asked him. “A crazy looking lady, a big man with a rake, two monks?”

“Some people did come here today,” the man replied, “But there was only one monk, not two.”

Monkey could have sworn he felt his heart stop then. His Tripitaka had to be okay. She couldn’t have died, surely?

“They’re staying in the smallest hut we have.” The man pointed deeper into the village. “You can’t miss it.”

“Thanks,” Monkey said before turning and walking in the direction the man had pointed. It took all he had in him not to run. 

The man had been right about not being able to miss the hut, but not because it was smaller, or because the hut itself stood out. No, the reason Monkey noticed it was because of the small, familiar monk standing outside it, gazing up at the stars.

As he drew closer, Monkey realised she was crying, small, silent tears. For a moment, he wondered if they were tears for him. He gripped his staff tighter and tried desperately to turn his expression into one of nonchalance, which he probably failed to do.

“Miss me?” The moment the words left his mouth, Tripitaka turned and her expression was a mess of emotions, to the point where it was almost unreadable. Monkey felt like an ass for not trying to be gentler upon approaching her, but it was too late now.

Tripitaka’s mouth opened, then closed, then opened again. Monkey could practically see her fumbling for words, and at that moment, he wished he could have found some other way to fly the scroll into the sun, some way that hadn’t involved his own death.

Eventually, Tripitaka seemed to give up on trying to speak and just threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around him in an absolutely rib-crushing hug. Monkey stiffened in shock, for just a moment, before hesitantly putting his arms around her tiny frame. He could feel her shaking, could hear her sobbing, and resolved that now was not a good time to ask her if she knew how in hell he was alive.

Instead, he just held her, as tightly as he dared to risk, but not too tight, for fear of hurting her. He turned his gaze to the starry sky, half-hidden by the leaves, and silently thanked heaven for whatever miracle allowed him to be with her right now.

***

The sun rose on the two of them, still outside, but now Monkey was sitting against the wall of the hut, Tripitaka asleep on his lap, her arms still wound tightly around him. She’d fallen asleep sometime during the night, and Monkey hadn’t had the heart to try and pry her arms from around him, so he’d carefully shifted over to here.

Unable to sleep, he’d kept watch over her all night, and didn’t let himself get caught up in how nice it felt to have her cuddled against his chest. As the sun rose, Tripitaka stirred, and Monkey did his best to get his facial expression under control. He hoped, as she blinked her eyes open, unwinding her arms from around him to stretch and yawn, that he looked nonchalant, or at least like an attentive guard.

“Monkey?” Tripitaka’s tone was sleepy, and Monkey had to admit that it was kind of adorable- not that he’d ever tell her that.

“Yeah?” He almost winced at his own tone, how uncaring he sounded, the dismissiveness. He was used to feeling like he was above others, and he hated that it transferred over into this moment.

“You’re… here?” Tripitaka blinked once, then twice, before sitting bolt upright. “Oh my gods, Monkey!”

“That’s my name,” he responded instinctively, with what he hoped was a winning smile.

“You’re here! Alive!” She looked positively incredulous, looking him up and down with pure shock. 

“I don’t know how, but yes.” Monkey met her gaze, smiling a little wider before he remembered, and his expression dropped. “And the others?”   
  


“Sandy and Pigsy are inside,” Tripitaka said quickly, casting her gaze downwards.

“And… The other Tripitaka?” Monkey held his breath as Tripitaka didn’t look up. Instead, she awkwardly clambered off his lap, not meeting his gaze.

“I’m sure Sandy and Pigsy will be glad to know you’re alive.”

It hit him like a blow to the chest as he realised that the other Tripitaka, the “Real” Tripitaka, had given his life for Monkey’s. He hadn’t known the monk terribly well, but he’d been a good man. It hurt to know he’d exchanged his life for Monkey’s, even if he was glad to be here and alive.

Monkey pushed himself to his feet, dusting himself off. Tripitaka glanced back at him, expression softening a little.

“I’m glad you’re back.”

Monkey simply gave her a smile and followed her to the hut. She pushed open the door, which creaked a little, to expose a dusty, beaten down and worn interior. Before Monkey could truly take in the place that his friends had been staying in, Sandy was barrelling into him.

“Monkey!” She shouted, wrapping her arms tightly around him. Monkey rolled his eyes in fake disgust, and then suddenly Pigsy was there too, crushing Sandy against him and squeezing him in a tight hug. Monkey spotted Tripitaka across the hut, who was watched with an amused look on her face.

“Help,” he wheezed out, to which Tripitaka simply laughed, then stepped over to join in the hug. Monkey snorted in disgust, but the inside of his chest felt warm and tingly, a type of happiness he couldn’t name. 

Finally, they all released him. Monkey raised at eyebrow at the other three and did his best to look like his usual self, which meant a haughty expression and an air of nonchalance.

“Good to see you alive,” Pigsy commented, breaking the silence.

“Good to see you missed me,” Monkey shot back with a grin, and everything felt a little more normal between them, and the air a little less heavy with grief. 

***

They were back out on the road again when Monkey found himself alone with Tripitaka once more. Sandy was scouting for a place for them to set up camp, and Pigsy was… searching for herbs, apparently?

Whatever the case, it meant Tripitaka and Monkey were strolling through the woods at a slow pace, just the two of them. Something seemed to hang in the air between them, making Monkey feel fidgety. 

“I was going to do it.” Tripitaka’s quiet tone was piercing in the silence of the forest, and Monkey did a double-take.

“What?”

“The spell. From the Scroll of Creation. To bring you back.” Tripitaka’s gaze was downcast, away from him, and Monkey felt his heart crack. Tripitaka had been willing to die to bring him back;  _ his  _ Tripitaka, willing to die for  _ him. _

“You…” For once, Monkey felt at a loss for words, his mouth dry. He swallowed harshly, stopping in his tracks to turn his full attention to her. “You were going to die to bring me back?”

Tripitaka looked up, and Monkey was startled to see her eyes were wet with tears. “I was ready to do  _ anything  _ to bring you back. Only that h-” She broke off, taking a deep breath.

“Only that he did it in my place, I…” Tripitaka trailed off, looking pained. Monkey breathed in, then out, trying to wrap his head around it. What if she had have done it? What if she were dead, and the other Tripitaka was here in her place?

Monkey didn’t know how to feel. He could feel tears beginning to prick at the corners of his eyes, and he blinked furiously to get rid of them. 

“I’m glad he was there,” Monkey managed. “I wouldn’t have wished for him to die but… I don’t know how we- how  _ I  _ would manage without you.”

Something seemed to shift between them at Monkey’s words. Tripitaka stepped closer to him, tears spilling from her eyes, but she smiled regardless. Monkey felt compelled to reach out for her, and so he did, cupping her face gently with a hand before it could fully register what he was doing. 

“Now you know how I felt,” Tripitaka said quietly, and suddenly Monkey was aware of how close they were standing, aware that he could feel her breath, aware that his hand was resting lightly on his cheek. 

For once, Monkey didn’t feel the need to recoil from the contact. Instead, he found himself leaning into it. That warmth was back in his chest again, and he could feel his heart beating far faster than usual.

Nothing about the moment or how close they were felt out of place, nor did it feel out of place when Tripitaka’s gaze searched his before she bridged the gap, leaning her, pressing her lips to his. In fact, he found this made him pull her closer, gently kissing her back until they had to part for oxygen, Monkey’s forehead resting against Tripitaka’s as they caught their breath again.

Monkey looked up first, meeting Tripitaka’s gaze, and the two smiled. It was then that a small pebble hit the back of Monkey’s head, and he turned with a small snarl to spot Pigsy.

“Sorry to interrupt you two, but Sandy’s found a spot for us to camp.”

Monkey stared at Pigsy for a moment, then looked back to Tripitaka, who let out a soft laugh. Linking his hand with hers, Monkey turned fully to Pigsy, and the three of them began to walk through the forest once again.


End file.
